Sir Daniel Macnee

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

PRSA LLD (4 June 1806,

Fintry Fintry is a small riverside village in Stirlingshire, central Scotland. Landscape The village of Fintry sits on the strath of the Endrick Water in a valley between the Campsie Fells and the Fintry Hills. The name Fintry is said to have deri ...

, Stirlingshire – 17 January 1882,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

), was a Scottish

portrait painter Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and pr ...

who served as president of the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

(1876).

Peter Denny (1821-1895), by Daniel Macnee

Conversation Pictures - Children of Colin Campbell of Colgrain and Camis Eskan by Daniel Macnee 1845

Life

He was born at

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirli ...

. At the age of thirteen he was apprenticed, alongside Horatio McCulloch and Leitch the water colourist, to the landscape artist

John Knox John Knox ( gd, Iain Cnocc) (born – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgat ...

. He afterwards worked for a year as a

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

, and was employed by a company in

Cumnock Cumnock (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cumnag'') is a town and former civil parish located in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The town sits at the confluence of the Glaisnock Water and the Lugar Water. There are three neighbouring housing projects which lie just o ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

(Smiths of Cumnock), to paint the ornamental lids of their

sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the ancient Greek ' (''sūkomoros'') meaning "fig-mulberry". Species of trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplata ...

-wood snuff-boxes. He studied in

at the

Trustees' Academy Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

, where he supported himself by illustrating publications for

William Home Lizars William Home Lizars (1788 – 30 March 1859) was a Scottish painter and engraver. Life The son of Daniel Lizars, and brother of the surgeon John Lizars, he was born at Edinburgh in 1788, and was educated at the high school there. His siste ...

the engraver. Moving to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, he established himself as a fashionable portrait painter. In 1829 he was admitted as a member of the

. He does not appear as an independent property owner until 1840 when he is listed as a portrait painter living at 126 West Regent Street in

. On the death of Sir George Harvey in 1876 he was elected President of the

. From then until his death he remained in Edinburgh, where, according to the 1911 ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'', "his genial social qualities and his inimitable powers as a teller of humorous Scottish anecdotes rendered him popular". He lived at 6 Learmonth Terrace in Edinburgh's fashionable West End. He was knighted by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

in 1877. In the same year he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

Thomas Brumby Johnston Thomas Brumby Johnston FRSE FRGS FSA (1814-1897) was a 19th-century Scottish geographer, cartographer, antiquary and pioneer photographer. In later life he served as the official Geographer to Queen Victoria. Life Johnston was born in Pert ...

John Hutton Balfour John Hutton Balfour (15 September 1808 – 11 February 1884) was a Scottish botanist. Balfour became a Professor of Botany, first at the University of Glasgow in 1841, moving to the University of Edinburgh and also becoming the 7th Regius Keepe ...

, Sir

Andrew Douglas Maclagan Sir Andrew Douglas Maclagan PRSE FRCPE FRCSE FCS FRSSA (17 April 1812, in Ayr – 5 April 1900, in Edinburgh) was a Scottish surgeon, toxicologist and scholar of medical jurisprudence. He served as president of 5 learned societies: the Royal ...

and Sir

Charles Wyville Thomson Sir Charles Wyville Thomson (5 March 1830 – 10 March 1882) was a Scottish natural historian and marine zoologist. He served as the chief scientist on the Challenger expedition; his work there revolutionized oceanography and led to his knight ...

. Several of Macnee's works are held by the National Portrait Gallery in London and at the

National Gallery of Scotland The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by Wi ...

in Edinburgh. Macnee is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

in western

with his wife Mary Buchanan, and children, Constance and Thomas Wiseman Macnee. They lie against the north wall of the northern extension.

Family

He was first married to Margaret (1810–1847) by whom he had at least seven children, including Horace Macnee CE. She is buried in

Glasgow Necropolis The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of Glasgow Cathedral (St. Mungo's Cathedral). Fifty thousand individuals have been buried here. Typical for the period, only ...

. He was married (c.1850), secondly, to Mary Buchanan Macnee (1834–1931), many years his junior. His daughter Isabella Wiseman was the subject of his masterpiece "''Lady in Grey''" (1859), which is held in the

. His great-grandson was the actor

Patrick Macnee Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British film and television actor. After serving in the Royal Navy during World War II, he began his acting career in Canada. Despite having some small film roles, Macnee spent much ...

Notable portraits

James Fillans James Fillans (27 March 1808 – 27 September 1852) was a Scottish sculptor, poet and artist with a short but influential career in the early 19th century. Life He was born in Wilsontown, Lanarkshire. In early life he worked as a handloom w ...

, sculptor * Horatio McCulloch, artist and friend *Mrs George Kerr *Mrs Catherine Blackie *Alexander Morrison of Ballinakill *Mrs

Samuel Bough Samuel Bough (1822–1878) was an English-born landscape painter who spent much of his career working in Scotland.''Nuttall Encyclopedia'' (1907) "Samuel Bough". Retrieved 8 June 2011. Life He was born the third of five children in Abbey St ...

*John Boyd Baxter *John Ramsay McCulloch * Thomas Duncan, artist and friend *John Dykes, Provost *Sir William Jackson MP *Rev James Begg *

Peter Coats Sir Peter Coats of Auchendrane (18 July 1808 – 9 March 1890) was a Scottish thread manufacturer and philanthropist. He was co-founder of the firm J & P Coats, which later evolved into Coats Group. Life He was born in Paisley, the third son ...

, thread magnate *David Crawford *Charles Randolph, shipbuilder *James Stuart of Dunearn *

Robert Dalglish Robert Dalglish (4 January 1808 – 20 June 1880) was a Scottish Radical politician. He was the Member of Parliament MP for Glasgow from 1857 to 1874. Life Dalglish was born in Glasgow, the son of Robert Dalglish (1770–1844) the Lord Provos ...

MP *Dugald Moore *Lady Macnee (his wife) with his children * Arthur Perigal, artist and friend * John Elder, shipbuilder * Peter Denny *Rev Robert Barclay *David Hutcheson * John Wilson, singer

References

External links

*
Memoirs and portraits of one hundred Glasgow men
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macnee, Daniel 1806 births 1882 deaths People from Stirling (council area) Royal Scottish Academicians Burials at the Dean Cemetery 19th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish knights 19th-century British artists Scottish portrait painters Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art 19th-century male artists